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Shaftesbury - Sensus Communis, An Essay On The Freedom of Wit and Humour)
Shaftesbury - Sensus Communis, An Essay On The Freedom of Wit and Humour)
a letter to a friend
Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury
are meant as aids to grasping the structure of a sentence or a thought. every four-point ellipsis . . . . indicates
the omission of a brief passage that seems to present more difficulty than it is worth. Longer omissions are
reported between brackets in normal-sized type.This work is the second of the five Treatises in Shaftesburys
Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. Its title fits less than half its content; there are all sorts of
other good things on offer here.
First launched: March 2011.
Contents
Part I
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
1
2
3
4
5
6
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. .
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1
1
1
2
3
5
6
Part II
Section 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Section 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Section 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
8
12
13
Part III
Section
Section
Section
Section
15
15
16
18
20
1
2
3
4
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Part IV
22
Section 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Section 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Section 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
glossary
affection: In the early modern period, affection could mean
fondness, as it does today; but it was also often used to
cover desires, approvals, likings, disapprovals, dislikings,
etc. In this work it is mainly used to refer to pro-feelings,
but the negative ones may be hovering in the background.
animal spirits: This stuff was supposed to be matter that is
even more finely divided than air, able to move extremely fast
and seep into tiny crevices. and (this being Shaftesburys
point on page 4) continuously active. his other mentions of
spirits in this work are to mental items.
education: In early modern times this word had a somewhat
broader meaning than it does today. It wouldnt have been
misleading to replace it by upbringing on almost every
occasion
formality: On page 6 this refers to intellectual conduct that
is stiff, rule-governed, prim.
generous: It had todays sense of free in giving but also
the sense of noble-minded, magnanimous, rich in positive
emotions etc.
genius: Sometimes used to mean nothing much more than
intellect; more often meaning (the possessor of) very highlevel intellect. In early modern times genius wasnt given
the very strong meaning it has today.
humour: In ancient Greek medicine it was held that the
human body contains four basic kinds of fluid (humours),
the proportions of which in a given body settled that persons
physical and mental qualities. By the early modern period
this theory was dead; but the use of humours to refer to
bodily states, character-traits, moods, lingered on. In the
I/2
Part I
Section 1
Section 2
Seriously, thinking about how this species of wit is sometimes employed, and how excessively some of our contemporaries have been using it lately, one may be a little confused
and unsure what to think of the practice or where this
rallying frame of mind will eventually take us. It has passed
from the men of pleasure to the men of business. Politicians
have been infected with it, so that grave affairs of state have
been treated with an air of irony and banter. The ablest
negotiators have been known as the most notable clowns;
the most celebrated authors have shown themselves as the
greatest masters of burlesque.
There is indeed a kind of defensive raillery (if I may so
call it) which I am willing enough to allowin affairs of any
kindwhen the spirit of inquiry would force a discovery of
more truth than can conveniently be told, and the raillery is
a device for heading off inquiry. In some contexts the worst
harm we can do to truth is to discover too much of it. Its the
same with understandings as with eyes: for a given size
and structure just so much light is necessary, and no more;
I/3
where Jesus, after presenting a parable, says Who hath ears to hear, let
Section 3
To describe true raillery would be as difficult and perhaps as
pointless as defining good manners.
Shaftesburys next sentence: None can understand the spec-
I/4
some Church found a person guilty of a crime for which it was unwilling
or legally unable to enforce punishment, it would ask the secular arm
of government to do the punishing.]
There cant be a more preposterous sight than an executioner and a clown acting their part upon the same stage! But
Im convinced that anyone will find this to be the real picture
of certain modern zealots in their controversial writings. They
are no more masters of solemnity than they are of good
humour, always running into harsh severity on one side
and awkward buffoonery on the other. Between anger and
pleasure, zeal and joking, their writing is about as graceful
as the play of cantankerous children who at the same instant
are both peevish and wild, and can laugh and cry almost in
the same breath.
Theres no need for me to explain how agreeable such
writings are like to be, and what effect theyll have towards
winning over or convincing those who are supposed to be
in error! Its not surprising to hear the zealots publicly
lamenting the fact that while their adversaries books are so
Section 4
Now that I have said this much about authors and writings,
youll hear my thoughts (which you asked for) on the subject
of conversation, and especially a recent free-ranging conversation that I had with some friends of yours whom you
thought I should have very solemnly condemned.
It was, I must admit, a very entertaining conversation,
despite its ending as abruptly as it did and in a confusion
that almost annihilated everything that had been said. Some
details of this conversation oughtnt to be recorded on paper,
3
I/4
I/5
Section 5
I/6
Section 6
I/6
II/1
Part II
Section 1
[In this paragraph and the next, Shaftesbury is talking about (i) ways
in which truth has been disguised in terms of (ii) the wearing of masks
and fooling around at Carnival. Sometimes he uses the language of (ii)
There was a
time when men were accountable only for their actions and
behaviour [Shaftesburys phrase]. Their opinions were left to
themselves. They were free to differ in these, as in their
faces! everyone acquired the manner and look that was
natural for him. But in the course of time it came to be
thought decent to correct mens faces and to make their
intellectual complexions uniform and of one sort. Thus
the magistrate [see Glossary] became a dresser, and after he
had given up his power to a new order of clothiers, he in
II/1
[The Magi referred to here are mythical creatures with magical powers who are supposed to have created a kingdom in Persia (here called
Asia). When Shaftesbury compares them with the Knights Templars
whom he calls a body of conjurers he is expressing his contempt for
If, my friend,
you had chanced to live in Asia at the time when the Magi
by a wicked imposture got possession of the empire, no
doubt you would have detested that act; and it might have
happened that the very persons of the men, after all the
cheats and abuses they had committed, became so odious to
you that you would have seen them killed with as relentless
an eye as our later European ancestors saw the destruction
of the Knights Templarsa similar body of conjurers who
had almost become an over-match for the civil sovereign.
Your indignation might have led you to propose the razing
of all monuments and memorials of those magicians. You
might have resolved not to leave so much as their houses
standing. But if it had happened that these magicians when
they were in power had made any collection of books, or
written any themselves, treating of philosophy, or morals, or
any other science [see Glossary] or branch of learning, would
you have carried your resentment so far as to destroy
these also and to condemn every opinion or doctrine the
Magi had espoused, simply because they had espoused
it? Hardly a Scythian, a Tatar, or a Goth would act or
reason so absurdly. Much less would you, my friend, have
carried out this. . . .priest-massacre with such a barbarous
zeal. Seriously, destroying a philosophy out of hatred for a
man shows thinking as wildly barbaric as murdering a man
in order to plunder his wit and get the inheritance of his
understanding!
the supposed magic powers of the supposed Magi.]
I must admit that if all the institutions, statutes, and regulations of this ancient hierarchy, the Magi, had resembled
the basic law of the order itself, it might have been right to
9
II/1
Hobbes, who expresses himself thus: By reading these Greek and Latin authors, men have from their childhood fallen into a habit (under a false
show of liberty) of favouring riots, and of licentiously controlling the actions of their sovereigns. (Leviathan II.21). By this reasoning, it should follow
that there can never be any riots or deposing of sovereigns at Constantinople, or in the Mughal empire. In other passages he expresses his view about
this destruction of ancient literature in favour of his Leviathan hypothesis and new philosophy.
10
although his love for such great truths and sovereign maxims
as he imagined these to be made him the most laborious of
all men in composing systems of this kind for our use; and
forced him, despite his natural fear, to run continually the
highest risk of being a martyr for our deliverance.
So let me head off your anxieties and assure you that
theres no such mighty danger as we are apt to imagine from
these fierce prosecutors of superstition, who are so down
on every religious or moral principle. Whatever savages
they may appear to be in philosophy, they are in their
ordinary lives as civilised as one could wish. Their freedom
in communicating their principles is a witness on their
behalf: its the height of sociableness to be friendly and
communicative in that way.
If their principles were concealed from us and made a
mystery, they might indeed become considerable [= become
something that we had to reckon with]. Things are often made
considerable by being kept as secrets of a sect or party;
and nothing helps this more than the hostility and anxiety
of a contrary party. If hearing maxims that are thought
to be poisonous immediately pushes us into horrors and
consternation, were in no state to use the familiar and easy
part of reason that is the best antidote. The only poison to
reason is passion, for false reasoning is soon corrected when
passion is removed. But if merely hearing a philosophical
proposition is enough to move us into a passion, its clear
that the poison already has a grip on us and we are effectively
prevented from using our reasoning faculty.
If it werent for prejudices of this kind, why shouldnt we
entertain ourselves with the fancy of one of these modern
reformers we have been speaking of? What should we say to
one of these anti-zealots who, with all the zeal of such a cool
philosophy, should earnestly assure us:
II/1
11
Section 2
II/2
Section 3
happened in morals. Not satisfied with showing the natural advantages of honesty and virtue, men have actually
lessened these in order (they thought) to advance another
foundation for virtue. They have made virtue such a
mercenary thing, and have talked so much about its rewards,
that one can hardly tell what there is in virtue that is worth
rewarding; for theres not much honesty or value in being
bribed or terrified into behaving honestly. . . .
II/3
No fair reader can think that by private friendship I mean the common benevolence and charity that every Christian is obliged to show towards all
men, and in particular towards his fellow-Christians, his neighbour, his brother, his more or less closely related kindred; but the special relation that
is formed by a consent and harmony of minds, by mutual esteem, and reciprocal tenderness and affectionwhat we emphatically call a friendship.
Thats what there was between the two Jewish heroes that I shall mention shortly, whose love and tenderness surpassed that of women (2 Samuel, ch.
1). Such were the friendships, described so often by poets, between Pylades and Orestes, Theseus and Pirithous, and many others. Such were those
between philosophers, heroes, and the greatest of menbetween Socrates and Antisthenes, Plato and Dion, Epaminondas and Pelopidas, Cato and
Brutus. . . . And such there may have been more recently, and perhaps even in our own age, though envy prevents the few examples of this kind from
being mentioned in public. [This very long footnote continues with Shaftesburys response to critics of what he has said about the status of friendship
in the system of Christian virtues, a response based largely on what the learned and pious Bishop Taylor wrote in his Treatise of Friendship.]
13
II/3
Perhaps, says the holy apostle Paul, for a good man some would even dare to die (Romans 5:7) He judiciously supposes this to belong to human
nature; though he is so far from basing any precept on it that he introduces his private opinion with a very dubious perhaps.
14
III/1
Part III
Section 1
15
III/2
Section 2
But setting aside these complaints against a philosophy that
says so much about nature and means so little, we can
surely accept this as a principle:
If anything is natural in any creature or any kind
of creature, its whatever tends to preserve the kind
itself and conduces to its welfare and support.
If in original and pure nature it is wrong to break a promise
or to be treacherous, it is as truly wrong to be in any respect
inhuman, or in any way lacking in our natural part towards
human kind. [Those last seven words are Shaftesburys.] If eating
and drinking are natural, so is herding [i.e. coming together in
16
a herd].
III/2
III/3
Section 3
As you know, it is commonly said that self-interest governs
the world. But I think that anyone who looks closely into the
affairs of the human world will find that passion, humour,
caprice, zeal, faction, and a thousand other springs that go
against self-interest have as large a role in the movements of
this machine as self-interest does. There are more wheels
and balances in this engine than are easily imagined. It is
too complex to fall under one simple view, or be explained in
a word or two. Those who study this mechanism must have a
very selective eye to overlook all other motions besides those
of the lowest and narrowest range. In the plan or description
of this clockwork, it is hard that no wheel or balance should
be allowed on the side of the better and broader affections;
that nothing should be understood to be done in kindness
or generosity, nothing in pure good-nature or friendship or
through any social or natural affection of any kind, given
that the main springs of this machine may well turn out to
be either these very natural affections themselves or some
compound kind containing them and retaining more than
one half of their nature.
But dont expect me to draw you up a formal blueprint
of the passions or to claim to show you their genealogy and
inter-relationshow they are interwoven with one another,
or how they interfere with our happiness and interest. To
devise a sound plan or model that would enable you to
see how much of the load in this architectural structure
is carried by the friendly and natural affections would be
18
beyond the scope and above the level of a letter like this.
Modern designers, I know, would willingly get these
natural materials off their hands, so that they could build
in a more uniform way. They would like to new-frame the
human heart, and intensely want to reduce all its motions,
balances and weights to one principle and foundationcool
and deliberate selfishness. Men, it seems, are unwilling to
think they can be outwitted and imposed on by nature so
as to be made to serve her purposes, rather than their own.
Theyre ashamed to be drawn out of themselves in this way,
and forced away from what they regard as their true interest.
There have always been narrow-minded philosophers who
have thought to set this difference to rights [= to put and end
to this struggle [between man and nature]] by conquering nature in
themselves. A father and founder among these [Epicurus] saw
well this power of nature, and he understood it so far that
he urged his followers not to have children or to serve their
country. There was no dealing with nature, it seems, while
these alluring objects stood in the way! He saw clearly that
relatives,
friends,
countrymen,
laws,
political constitutions,
the beauty of order and government, and
the interests of society and mankind
were objects that would naturally create stronger affections
than any that were grounded on the narrow base of mere self.
So his advice not to marry or engage at all in the service of
the public was wise, and suitable to his design. The only
way to be truly a disciple of this philosophy was to leave
family, friends, country, and society, and cling to it. . . .
4
III/3
Sudden courage, says Hobbes, is anger. Therefore courage considered as constant and belonging to a character must on his account be defined as
constant anger or anger constantly returning.
19
III/4
Section 4
Its as well for you, my friend, that in your education you
havent had much to do with the philosophy or the philosophers of our days. A good poet and an honest historian
can provide enough learning for a gentleman. And when a
gentleman reads these authors for pleasure, hell get the feel
of them and understand them better than will a pedant, with
all his labours and the aid of his volumes of commentators.
Im aware that it used to be the custom to send the youth
of highest quality to philosophers to be formed. It was in
their schools, in their company, and by their precepts and
example that the illustrious pupils became used to hardship
and were exercised in the severest courses of temperance and
self-denial. By such an early discipline they were equipped
to command others,
to maintain their countrys honour in war,
to rule wisely in the state, and
to fight against luxury and corruption in times of
prosperity and peace.
If any of these arts [here = skills] are included in university
learning, thats good; but some universities these days
are shaped in such a way that they seem not to be very
effective for these purposes, and not to make a good job of
preparing the young for right conduct in the world or sound
knowledge of men and things. If you had been thoroughly
educated in the ethics or politics of the schools, I would
never have thought of writing a word to you about common
sense or the love of mankind. I wouldnt have quoted the
poets dulce & decorum. . . . Our philosophy these days runs
20
along the lines of the able sophister who said Skin for skin:
all that a man has he will give for his life. [This able but
tricky reasoner was Satan addressing God in Job 2:4.] According to
some men it is orthodox theology and sound philosophy to
value lives in terms of the number and exquisiteness of the
pleasing sensations they contain. They constantly set these
sensations in opposition to dry virtue and honesty. And
upon this basis they see fit to call a fool anyone who would
risk his life for anything, or part with any of these pleasing
sensations unless he could later get them backbe repaid
in the same coinwith interest. So it seems that we are to
learn virtue through money-lending, and to be wise and live
well by raising the value of life and of the pleasures of sense!
III/4
IV/1
Part IV
Section 1
IV/1
to it,
the temperament steeled and hardened to the mind,
i.e. the disposition hardened to the judgment.
Temperament and judgment must agree; otherwise theres
nothing but disturbance and confusion. To allow oneself
the secret but serious thought Why shouldnt I do this little
villainy, or commit this one treacheryjust once? is the
most ridiculous thing in the world, and contrary to common
sense. A common honest man, not disturbed by philosophy
and subtle reasonings about his interests, has no answer to
the thought of villainy except that he cant find in his heart
to try to conquer his natural aversion to it. . . .
The fact is that in the present state of thinking about
morals in the world, honesty is not likely to gain much by
philosophy or deep speculations of any kind. In the main its
best to stick to common sense and go no further. In moral
questions mens first thoughts are generally better than their
second; their natural notions better than the ones refined
by study or consultation with casuists [= specialists in applied
morality]. Theres a common saying that expresses common
sense, namely that honesty is the best policy; but according
to refined sense, the only people who conduct themselves
intelligently in this world are arrant knaves; the only ones
who serve themselves serve their passions and indulge their
loosest appetites and desires. So much for the wise and the
wisdom of this world!
An ordinary man talking in a commonsensical way about
a vile action says naturally and heartily I wouldnt be guilty
of that for the whole world. But speculative menmen who
are interested in theories find many qualifications and
special cases: many ways of evasion; many remedies; many
alleviations. One wrong action may be made up for (they
think) by
23
IV/2
Section 2
But we arent the sort of people, my friend, who are given
to melancholy reflections. Let the solemn reprovers of vice
proceed in the manner most suitable to their genius and
character; Im ready to celebrate with them the successes
they have achieved in the authoritative way that is allowed
to them. But I dont know why others cant be allowed
to ridicule folly, and recommend wisdom and virtue (if
they can) through humour and jokes. I dont know why
poets, or others who chiefly to entertain themselves and
others, cant be allowed this privilege. And if our standing
reformers complain that they arent heard so well by the
gentlemen of fashionif they exclaim against the airy wits
24
IV/2
the effect of all those outward charms, and rob the fair one
of her power, even though she has all the right armament of
features and complexion? We may imagine what we please
about beauty as something substantial and solid; but a really
thorough investigation of this matter would reveal that what
we most admire even in a persons outward features is only
a mysterious expressiona kind of shadowof something
inward in the temperament. [Shaftesbury develops this point
in some detail, adding colour rather than content to what he
has to say.]
Nor can the men of cooler passions and more deliberate
pursuits withstand the force of beauty in others. Everyone
is a connoisseur at his own level; everyone pursues a grace
and courts a Venus of one kind or another. Whatever
is handsome, honest, fitting in things will force its way.
the nobler subjects of a rational and moral kind will find that
it is prevalent elsewhere, in a lower order of things. Those
who overlook the main springs of action, and despise the
thought of harmony and proportion in everyday life, will still
be preoccupied with lower forms of them in their care for the
common arts, or in the care and development of merely
mechanical beauties. The models of houses, buildings,
and their accompanying ornaments; the plans of gardens,
and their compartments; the ordering of walks, plantations,
avenues; and a thousand other symmetries, will occupy the
mental space that in some people is occupied by symmetry
and order of a happier and higher sort. . . .
[In this paragraph, harmony and dissonances are used metaphorically, referring to order and disorder in the moral realm.] The men of
pleasure, who seem the greatest despisers of this philosophical beauty, are often forced to confess its charms. They can
commend honesty as heartily as anyone, and are as much
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Section 3
And thus, after all, the most natural beauty in the world
is honesty and moral truth, for all beauty is truth. True
features make the beauty of a face; true proportions make
the beauty of architecture, and true measures make the
beauty of music. In poetry, which is all fable, truth still is
the perfection. And anyone who is scholar enough to read the
ancient Philosopher (or his modern followers) regarding the
nature of a dramatic and epic poem will easily understand
this account of truth.
A painter, if he has any genius, understands the truth
and unity of design, and knows that if he follows nature
too closely and strictly copies life he is doing something
unnatural. For his art doesnt allow him to bring all of
nature into his piece, but only a part of it. But if his piece is
to be beautiful and to carry truth, it must be
a whole by itself, complete, independent, and yet as
great and comprehensive as he can make it.
For this to be achieved, the particulars must defer to the
general design: everything must be subservient to the main
thing, namely a certain easiness of sight of the piecea simple, clear, united view that would be broken and disturbed by
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[Shaftesbury has a long footnote here, in which he offers his own restatement of a passage in Aristotles Poetics:] The beautiful or sublime in poetry
and painting comes from the expression of greatness with orderi.e. exhibiting the works main subject in the very largest proportions in which it
can be viewed. For when it is gigantic, it is in a way out of sight, and cant be taken in in that simple and united view. And when on the other hand
a piece is of the miniature kindwhen it runs into the detail, and delicate delineation of every little particularit is as it were invisible, for the same
reason, namely that the whole thing cant be comprehended in one united view, so that the beauty is broken and lost by the necessary attraction of
the eye to every small and subordinate part. In a work of poetry, memory must be paid the same respect as the eye is in painting. The dramatic kind
is confined within the convenient and proper time of a spectacle. The epic kind is left more at large. Each work, however, must aim at vastness, and
be as great and of as long duration as is possible, consistent with its main lines being easy to grasp within one easy glance or retrospect of memory.
And this is what the Philosopher [always referring to Aristotle] calls the beautiful. That is the best I can do by way of translating the passage in
question, but its impossible to do justice to this treatise in English. . . . Id like to add a remark of my own, which may interest scholars of sculpture
and painting, namely: the greatest of the ancient as well as the modern artists were always inclined to follow this rule of the Philosopher; and when
they erred it was on the side of too large rather than too detailed. Examples of this are provided by Michelangelo, the great beginner and founder
among the moderns, and by Zeuxis, who had the same status among the ancients. . . .
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*****
Theres an irresistible temptation to present a different take
on the famous words Dulce et decorum est that Shaftesbury
quotes on page 14 (expecting his readers to know what comes
after them). It was the Latin poet Horace who wrote that it is
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